Satellite distribution systems are a cost-effective way for service providers to deliver television services and other media to potential viewers in a large geographic area. The service provider beams a signal from a distribution center towards a satellite, and the satellite beams the signal back to Earth, in an area referred to as a “footprint”. From the customer end, a customer subscribes to a service package, obtains a receiver and a satellite dish, directs the dish in the general area of the satellite and can begin enjoying programming associated with the package.
From a service provider's perspective, one of the main drawbacks of satellite distribution system is that the signal is rendered available to everyone within the area of the satellite “footprint”, regardless of whether those individuals are paying customers or not. Thus, it is possible (with the right equipment) for a non-subscriber to capture the signal and therefore enjoy media programming (such as TV shows) as if he or she were a subscriber. This is referred to in the industry as satellite signal piracy.
To this end, service providers have implemented security measures that limit the unauthorized viewing of television channels. For example, the signal may be encrypted in such a way that it can only be decrypted by a hardware device that includes the appropriate decryption key. Such a decryption key can be installed in each authorized receiver. A limited number of receivers are then available for distribution to each customer, for an incremental fee, to allow enjoyment in multiple areas of the home, for example.
However, even with such limitations in place, service providers are still vulnerable to satellite signal piracy. In fact, certain unscrupulous customers have been known to request the maximal number of receivers and then to rent out the individual receivers to non-customers anywhere within the “footprint” who desire satellite reception at a reduced cost and require only a single receiver. The unscrupulous customer thus becomes an underground reseller of programming available with the package to which he himself subscribes. The reason that this is economically feasible is that the total cost of the reseller's subscription, including the maximum number of receivers, which is then divided by the number of receivers (i.e., the number of non-customers who are potential customers of the reseller), is less than what it would have otherwise cost each non-customer to become a legitimate customer with access to a single receiver.
Against this background, it is clear that a need exists in the industry to curb the activities of underground resellers in order to preserve the economic viability of satellite distribution as an alternative to cable and other forms of television and other media delivery to consumers.